His Last Breath
by mean.blackjack47
Summary: After Shepard sacrifices himself to meld synthetics and organics, a pregnant Miranda Lawson reflects on John Shepard and the impact he had on her life.


The sun was about to come up on the Citadel and in one of the very expensive high rise apartments there was a restless woman struggling to get some rest. Miranda sighed and cast a biotic field against the blankets, sending them crashing against the wall in a silent explosion. She just couldn't get comfy! Looking over at the holo display of the time, she waited. Waited. Waited some more until the last number changed to a zero and her alarm went off. She readjusted herself in bed, scooting over to the side and hitting the button to stop it. She sighed and stuffed her head in her hands, trying to summon the strength to get herself out of the bed. Her music selection came on and she had to bite down on her bottom lip to quell the tears that were threatening to fall.

Her cybernetics stung from the tears that trickled down her face but the former Cerberus Operative refused to be bothered by them. She missed him. Her hand picked up the photo frame on the counter and looked at it, it was a picture Kolyat and Oriana had taken of the two. The double date had happened a little after the nasty events at Sanctuary and they had taken a stroll along the Silversun Strip on the Citadel. John was still decked in that ridiculous mud brown jacket and denim jeans combo, something that made him look like a colonist in the Terminus System. She had always hated it and he was actually pretty sure that he only wore it because it drove the Operative insane. Miri however was clad as glamorous as you would expect a woman of her nature to be dressed, they had their arms around each other and were both grinning from ear to ear.

"_You are such an idiot John."_

"_What?"_

"_You're the leader of the highest warship in the alliance and you look like a country bumpkin."_

"_Hey now! This is the outfit I used to conquer the Collectors! This inspires fear no matter where I stand!" John complimented that statement by bending his arms and sticking his fists on his waist as a superhero from the vids might have done. Miranda laughed out loud at that and playfully swatted his shoulder, kissing his cheek and keeping herself close to him in general._

"_RANDA!" A voice called out over the din, both Miranda and John turned to look at the voice and saw Oriana and Kolyat walking towards them. Her younger sister took off in a gallop and launched herself at Miranda in a massive hug. John and Kolyat smiled and shook hands before the sisters broke and they giggled together. "QUICK! Get together we need a selfie for my Spacebook profile!" All of them huddled together and smiled to the holographic interface, a snap sounded out and they took the photo. Oriana checked it before looking at John and Miranda. "Now you two together! I NEED a picture of the man who makes my sister so happy!"_

_John laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, planting his stubbled face against Miranda's forehead while her arms curled around his mid-section and a warm smile broke out on her face._

Happier times. Her eyes closed and she fought back another wash of tears as the young baby in her stomach kicked out at her.

"I'm sorry little one. Momma didn't mean to get you upset." Her hands ran over the round swelling at her waist. Turning on her heel slowly, Miranda waddled over to the walk-in closet and browsed her clothing. Finding her midnight black, sleek catsuit she took it off of the hangar and looked at it, running her fingers over the delicate curves. "Oh, I don't think I'll ever fit into this again. Good riddance."

"_Do you remember what Jack said about this?"_

"_Hm?" John asked, his head lifting up from the pillow to study Miranda, who was now simply clad in her underwear and looking over the catsuit that she chose to wear after the deal with getting Oriana to safety._

"_Jack. We fought our way through Illium to get Ori to safety and that Asari bitch asked if I was allowed to whore around in this."_

_John cackled, falling onto his back and exploding into a lazy star fish on his bed. Making a face, John broke out an awful impression. "Damn! Are we still recruiting?"_

_Miranda laughed as well, her face going soft as the Normandy approached the last Mass Relay. They had Shepard's last instructions. He was going to be dropped off via shuttle at the arctic circle where Alliance HQ would pick him up. The crew would be disbanded and then Joker would submit the Normandy to the Alliance and pray to whoever was watching that he wasn't going to get into trouble as well. _

"_I'm never going to see you again am I?"_

"_Am I going somewhere?"_

"_John, the Alliance isn't known for its leniency. I could never see you again and I don't think…"_

_John stood up off of the bed and wrapped her up into a hug. His large hands running over her body and tangling in her hair as he kissed against her forehead softly._

"_I'm going to beat these charges, then I'm going to destroy the Reapers and Mordin is going to find a way for us to have children. I promise."_

Damn it John! You promised me! Miranda cursed, tossing the catsuit back into the closet. Her eyes shut tightly and as she opened them again there was a wet pooling around her legs. She didn't even need to look down to know what it was.

Her water had broken. She was going to be a mother.


End file.
